June 1968, I checked in at the lobby of the Fairchild R&D facility on Miranda Drive in Palo Alto. A distinguished gentleman with a huge grin rushed towards me and, energetically pumping my hand, greeted me like long lost friend.
2017 CHM Fellow Alan Cooper is best known as the “Father of Visual Basic,” possibly the most widely used visual programming environment in the software industry.
Remarkable People
Throughout computing history, there are many inspirational stories of how technology came about through hard work, determination, and overcoming odds. Unfortunately, many of these stories have not been told until recently. One of these untold stories concerns the inspiring women behind the early days of NASA who pitche
Though Erich Bloch was less visible to most of the computing community, his contributions most likely impacted your life. As a pioneer who made his first contribution as the project engineer on the legendary IBM Stretch and who was responsible for manufacturing the IBM System/360, his work changed the fortunes of IBM t
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed by the President of the United States. It recognizes “An especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
The entrepreneurial, technology-driven roots of today’s Silicon Valley sprouted long before Google’s algorithms, Apple’s two Steves, Fairchild’s chipmeisters, or the egalitarian management innovations of Hewlett and Packard. Eager emissaries from less prosperous regions of the nation and foreign governments striving to
Harold Cohen was a pioneer in computer art, in algorithmic art, and in generative art; but as he told me one afternoon in 2010, he was first and foremost a painter. He was also an engineer whose work defined the first generation of computer-generated art. His system, AARON, is one of the longest-running, continually ma
Gary Kildall was a pioneer of personal computer software. He wrote programming language tools, including assemblers (Intel 4004), interpreters (BASIC), and compilers (PL/M). He created a widely-used disk operating system (CP/M). He and his wife, Dorothy McEwen, started a successful company called Digital Research to de
David T. Morgenthaler (August 5, 1919–June 17, 2016) was a towering figure in the first generation of global technology venture capitalists. From the time he entered the field at the age of 48, until his death on June 17, 2016, at the age of 96, Morgenthaler led $3 billion of investments in more than 300 companies.
